Shield Of Faith

The shield of faith helps us to stand firm in every circumstance at any given time.

Ephesians 6:16 ESV – “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith.” Why? Because, “with it we can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

How can we extinguish the Enemies fiery darts? With the shield of faith God gave us. Click To Tweet

Last week, I stated that my New Year’s resolution was “To seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) by increasing my faith.”

Guess what? On several occasions this week I was challenged in this area.

Challenge

I found myself becoming angry for no reason. I was rude and mean to both of my children. Neither one of them deserved it. How I wish I could blame hormones or the Devil. However, we all know that it was me giving into being tired, frustrated and/or wanting my own way.

Upon Reflection

Pondering the events, I realized I was suffering from some things which I thought I had dealt with.

The deceitfulness our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9)?
Isn’t it amazing how when we would try to do good evil would come (Romans 7:21)?
I knew better but did not do better? We know that Satan roams around looking for someone to devour. So why, don’t we guard our hearts and minds as much as we should (1 Peter 5:8). I let my tiredness and frustration with myself translate into resentment. Resentment, for what I thought were my “should be met” needs. [Funny thing about the so-called “should be met” needs, most of the time they aren’t needs I would even consider]. The Devil knows our buttons and he is excellent at pushing them.

Who Is Responsible?

As amazing as all those above thoughts are. I know that I cannot say “The Devil made me do it.” Why? Because God expects me to choose my reaction to any stimulus that comes my way. Since I must choose my reaction, I am responsible for my reaction. The same applies for you and your reactions.

Where Was My Shield of Faith You Ask?

I know that I am to carry my shield of faith. After all, God provided me with it to fight Satan’s fiery darts.

Where was it ?

Under the bed,
In the closet,
Out to be polished

I am not really sure where it was, but I definitely wasn’t using it.

What Do I Do Now?

I need to get up out of the mud, repent, ask for forgiveness and confess my fault (1 John 1:9).

The Reason Why

We all want to be forgiven and to walk away from these situations with a 180 degree turn. Let’s remember that there is never a good time to be without our shield of faith.

Prayer

Abba, as we each go through the events of the day, help us to hold tightly to the shield of faith that you have given us. Help us to know that when we fall into sin that we can come to You and to those that we have impacted for forgiveness. And thank You so much that we can ask for the strength of the Holy Spirit to be truly repentant and to have our hearts and minds renewed and set back on the path to seeking Christ-likeness. In Jesus name we pray amen.

P.S. I choose to defy the statistics that tell us that 25% of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions after the first week – I found my shield of faith, I picked it up and I’m charging ahead!

Do you know where your shield of faith is? Are you using it to defeat the enemy?